Which to use
“verhaften” is a verb and “verhängten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #42,912
- “verhängten” frequency rank
- 62664
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verhängten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verhängt |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verhängten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhaften runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhängten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verhaften with verhängten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhaften is [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩] while verhängten is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhaften is recorded at frequency rank #19,752, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]. verhängten is at rank #42,912, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtn̩].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 62664, this pair ranks #704,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verhängten
Shared letters: ehnrtv. Private to "verhaften": af. Private to "verhängten": gä.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhängten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhaften ← evrhaften · vehraften · verahften · verhafetn · verhafften · verhaftenn · verhaftne · verhaftten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verhaften" and "verhängten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verhaften" or "verhängten" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhaften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhängten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #704,600 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verhängten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdrängten vs verhängten". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #704,600 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.